Experiencing Our Research - Summer Cabin 1773: We Celebrated Lammas Day

"History as it is taught in the schools deals largely with...wars,  major political controversies,  territorial extensions and the like.  When I went to our American history books to learn how our forefathers harrowed the land,  I discovered that the historians knew nothing about harrows.  Yet our country depended more on harrows than on guns or great speeches.  I thought a history which excluded harrows and all the rest of daily life is bunk and I think so yet."

Henry Ford - explaining why he said  "History is more or less bunk!"  (1916)

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If you haven't noticed,  a good many of my postings here on Passion for the Past tend to center around rural farm life & country living of  times gone by.  Like Henry Ford,  it seems most of what I read about the 18th century in history books tend to focus on the wars and of politics,  all of which are important.  But we tend to forget that the greater majority of the 18th century population were farmers and country folk.  So I suppose I'm with the majority here.

I hope you enjoy reading about our summertime Lammas Day excursion,  which centers on farm life during the times of this country's founders~

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Our 18th century home.

It was supposed to be a very hot and muggy day on July 28,  the day we ventured to the Colonial Cabin at Waterloo Farm.  But,  though it was hot and muggy in the metro-Detroit area,  it wasn't too bad out in Grass Lake at Waterloo Cabin,  about an hour to the west.  The weather prediction actually caused a discussion beforehand on whether or not we should even do it,  for thunderstorms were included as part of the weather pattern as well.  But one comment from a Citizens of the American Colonies member - "we haven’t weathered thru a storm yet at the cabin" - convinced some of us to move ahead,  which we did,  and I am glad we did,  for each time we are there,  no matter the weather,  helps us to understand the past and our ancestors even more.  Each and every time is a learning experience,  like the times when we venture to the cabin in the dead of winter in bitter cold temperatures.  

Yes,  we enjoy that,  too!  

And I am proud of what we accomplish there. 

Out there it's summertime - milk & honey day...
(a computer painting)

However,  the weather was not nearly as bad as predicted for us on this day:  yes,  it was hot  (as you'll see by the pictures),  but only in the low 80s,  nothing like they said it would be for us,   and though it was muggy,  the heavy humidity didn't really kick in until after two o'clock.  There was a slight  "summer breeze" a-blowing as well,  which made us feel fine.  You see,  there are moments of life when everything looks in the right place.  And our duty is to notice it,  appreciate it,  let it penetrate our mood.  It reminds me of the  (decidedly non-colonial)  song  "Summer Breeze"  by Seals & Crofts,  which is about the joy of life.  The song describes the pleasant sensation of summer,  when the fresh breeze blows on your face,  people are happy,  and life seems perfect in all aspects.  The chorus is a romantic description of those moments of happiness and wellness:

Summer breeze makes me feel fine

Blowin’  through the jasmine in my mind  

(jasmine being a plant which produces fragrant white flowers).

That's how we felt that day,  celebrating the beginning of harvest while still in the midst of summer. 

And,  by the way,  it did not rain as predicted.

But,  it's summertime and it's supposed to be hot and muggy and breezy and,  yes,  rainy...to be perfectly honest,  it would not bother me if it rained the entire day for one of our visits  (though I prefer it not to),  and I would still go just to understand and experience those regards as well.  Okay...maybe for part of the day... That's the way I generally try to look at things,  whether I'm in the now or in the past.

Yes,  it would be different than being at my 21st century home where I could watch a movie or play on my computer or even go shopping to kill time.

So being where we were and the time of year,  yes,  we really did have a great time!  And we got to celebrate another holiday/holyday of times past as well - Lammas Day!

Summer of days gone by...

As living historians & historic reenactors,  we are sometimes asked why we,  as grown adults,  will dress up and pretend that we are living in the past.  My first response is,  "Who's pretending?"

Seriously - - who is pretending here?

We are  living in the past during these excursions.

~Mind!  I said  "during these excursions"~

So far at our colonial cabin experiences this year we've celebrated Candlemas  (HERE),  we celebrated Rogation Sunday  (HERE),  and now we are celebrating Lammas Day  (click HERE for a history lesson on that special colonial-period celebration).

Our loaves of bread ready to be blessed.

August begins with Lammas Day  (or Loaf Mass Day),  the day when a bread loaf baked with flour from July-harvested wheat or corn would be brought into church and blessed.  It's one of the oldest points of contact between the agricultural world and the Church.

Many colonial farmers celebrated the holiday  (or holyday,  as these special days of celebration or worshiping were called)  on August 1st,  which marked the first major harvest of the beginning fall season.  In fact,  oftentimes the words  "fall"  and  "autumn"  could be replaced with  "harvest."

Yes,  even though it is still technically summer,  August was once considered one of the months of harvest time.  As such,  Lammas Day was a sort of  Thanksgiving,  and so it remained for many colonial families not only here in America,  but in many parts of the world,  especially the British Isles.  

On a colonial-era Lammas Day,  it was customary for the head of the household to bring to church,  for a blessing,  the first loaf of bread made from the new crop,  which began to be harvested at Lammastide,  falling at the halfway point between the summer solstice and the autumn September equinox.  That loaf was then used as the center of the family’s Lammas Thanksgiving feast.  

We did our best to replicate this tradition,  though  'twas not actually on Lammas Day - - our celebration was held on Friday July 28 - four days before.

Close enough,  I would say.

So for the first part of the day - the coolest part - we spent time weeding the large garden.

Yes,  the weeds had taken over!

Our day began with Charlotte and my wife,  Patty,  out in our garden.
It was desperately in need of weeding.  Patty and I had great plans to come out to
weed and care for it a few times each month,  but,  unfortunately,  due to so
many things coming up in our modern lives,  it wasn't to be.

Out of everything we planted last May, 
the turnips are doing the best.

The traditional illumination for autumn/Hallowe'en pranksters out in the night was provided by turnips or mangel wurzels,  hollowed out to act as lanterns,  lit with coal or a candle,  and often carved with grotesque faces.  Turnip lanterns usually represented supernatural beings and were used to chase evil spirits or to scare people,  while in some cases they were set on windowsills to guard homes against evil.

Irish immigrants brought the jack-o’-lantern custom to North America.  Here,  turnips were slowly replaced by pumpkins to make the iconic Halloween decorations,  and eventually became the plant of choice.

Our turnips still have a way to go...
Perhaps we'll carve a face into the turnip for October's Pioneer Day
held the 2nd Sunday in October at Waterloo.

Our beans are doing well also.

This is not pretending~
Like a true frontier woman,  my wife removed her wet,  muddy
shoes and decided to just go barefoot for a time.  You can see the
bottom of her apron is wet - as was the bottom of her blue skirt -
we had plenty of recent rainfall.

Charlotte and I weeded around the pokeweed plant.  Pokeweed is poisonous but its berries can - and will,  in our case - be used for dyeing wool.

We all had our time outdoors - not pretending and not posing - 

doing the garden,  digging the weeds.

Who could ask for more?

I enjoyed having Norman come out to visit and take part with us.
He is a long-time reenactor,  going back to the 1970s!

He is now a member of Citizens of the American Colonies.

Patty also spent time knitting and visiting with Charlotte...

...in fact,  the four of us had quite a few different conversations.
It wasn't a large group,  but summertime is usually smaller.

Since there was no church nearby,  we had the Lammas Day blessing done inside  "our home."  Our minister,  Norman Gerring,  gave a wonderful blessing to help us celebrate
this holy day.
Norman,  though not an actual minister in real life,  might as well be,  for he is as strong a Christian as any minister I've evet met;  he researches the prayers of the period,  and researched the clothing he would wear as a man-of-the-18th century-cloth.  Yes,  he takes in stride the silly  "Quaker Oats"  comments.  We who do living history appreciate all he puts into this hobby.

My wife cuts the bless'd bread.

Charlotte & Patty both prepared our summer Harvest meal

Our summertime Lammas Day Feast included cucumbers,  beans,  and tomatoes  (grown in my wife's garden at our home),  melon,  cherries,  peaches,  pickles,  various cheeses,  beets,  and fresh-baked bread with butter.  Not all was made and baked here at the cabin;  most of the preparation was done beforehand.  Perhaps if we had actually spent the entire weekend here it could have been done,  most likely in the firepit outside the cabin rather than the hearth to keep the cabin cooler,  but we usually spend only a day there at a time.
Of course,  we more than likely would not have had all the variety of fruits,  being that we were in a frontier cabin,  but we also wanted to enjoy a few extra items that were available during the 18th century.  

We certainly enjoyed our meal and the camaraderie between us.
My wife told me it was one of the most relaxed and enjoyable days she's had in a while.
And that's what it's all about - - -  

Ladder back chair

I very much enjoy that we are not just going to the cabin and going through the motions.  We are actually celebrating colonial life in the way I've not seen done elsewhere,  and that makes me proud.

We also attempt to up our game in sometimes smaller,  more subtle ways.

Can you see what we did this time?
Think:  chairs.

"Upping your game"  doesn't always have to mean something major or in your face;  Charlotte noted a while back that our chairs - wooden folding chairs - are incorrect,  that perhaps something like a ladderback chair might give it another touch of realism,  especially being in a period structure.

Well,  she is right - can't argue about that.

Now,  I already have numerous ladderback chairs in my collection so I brought a few along.  We already had a bench there so we were good with that.  But,  as stated,  sometimes it's the little things that can make a difference without realizing it.

Does this mean I'll never use a wood folding chair ever again?
Nope----it only means for certain events,  such as when we're at our colonial cabin surrounded by four walls of authenticity,  I/we will try to  "up our game."

Yes,  sometimes it really can be the little things that can make a difference to the discerning eye.

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Whether one is doing it for the public or for personal reasons,  it can be challenging to see if we can be good enough in our researched historical knowledge to  "be there,"  if you catch my drift.

Experiencing our research.

No Hollywood history.

Larissa  was not here this time,  and she
always takes a selfie with all of us.
So I took one on her behalf.

Our greatest challenge this time is that our garden isn't what we hoped it would be.  Patty & I had all intentions on making it out to weed three to four times a month - perhaps once a week - but our modern life kept on getting in the way.  Of course,  living the distance from the farm that we do,  and gas prices being what they are,  added to our unavailability.  If we could've made it out as we had hoped - more than the two times we did - I'm sure our yield would have been much more promising.  My wife knows how to garden well - our home garden is coming along wonderfully.  

So,  it can be a challenge for some but,  in most cases,  it can be quite satisfyingly successful,  even if things don't always go as planned..

As for the wearing of period clothing at a private event - strictly for ourselves - it's a way for us to become a part of the past...a sort of a spirit within the walls of an ancient structure.  I suppose unless you are into living history,  it can be difficult to explain.  Maybe this is what Robert Plant meant when he wrote:

"There's a feeling I get when I look to the west

And my spirit is crying for leaving.

In my thoughts I have seen rings of smoke through the trees

And the voices of those who stand looking."

Yep---those lines make more sense to me now.

But there's something more...

Aren't we,  in a way,  emulating our own ancestors to some extent?

Keeping their spirit alive?

I mean,  this was the time of my 5th and 6th great grandparents,  and my maternal side have been in this country as Quaker farmers since 1710,  so the sort of life we are showing here would be quite familiar to them.

Only we're not Quakers.

So when someone asks me why I do this hobby,  I can honestly say I enjoy taking a trip and experiencing - not just visiting or pretending - the past.

Until next time,  see you in time.

To read what life was like in an 18th century autumn,  please click HERE

To read what life was like in an 18th century winter,  please click HERE

To read what life was like in an 18th century spring,  please click HERE

To read what life was like in an 18th century summer,  please click HERE

To read about spending a year on a colonial farm,  please click HERE

To read about 18th Century Homelife: Spinning, Dyeing, & Weaving as Told by Those Who Were There,  please click HERE

To read a post I wrote about the little things,  such as shadow portraits and bourdaloues,  that can make a historical difference,  click HERE

Here are the links to all of our cabin day experiences  (so far):

If you are interested in our other cabin excursions,  please click the links below:

To read about our 2020 autumn excursion at the cabin,  click HERE

To read about our 2021 wintertime excursion at the cabin,  click HERE

To read about our 2021 springtime excursion at the cabin,  click HERE

To read about our 2021 summertime excursion at the cabin,  click HERE

To read about our 2021 summer harvesting of the flax at the cabin,  click HERE

To read about our 2021 autumn excursion making candles at the cabin,  click HERE

To read about our 2022 winter excursion at the cabin,  please click HERE

To read about our 2022 spring excursion at the cabin,  please click HERE

To read about our 2022 summer excursion at the cabin,  please click HERE

To read about our 2022 autumn excursion at the cabin  (Pioneer Day),  please click HERE

To read about our 2023 winter excursion at the cabin - Candlemas,  please click HERE

To read about our 2023 spring excursion at the cabin - Rogation Sunday,  please click HERE

To read about our 2023 late spring - more planting at the cabin  (& early farming history),  click HERE

To read about the 2023 early summer weeding at the cabin  (and a timeline event),  please click HERE

Postscript:

The cabin we use as our colonial frontier home was originally built in a different Michigan location in 1840 and was brought to Waterloo about 50 years ago.  I say this because we let the visitors know we were not from the 1840s but from the 1770s,  and that cabins,  in general,  had not changed very much at all from the 18th century to the 19th century. 

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